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For those who follow the personal side of this blog, here are some updates. I'm writing this on my new netbook! It's this one , a Lenovo IdeaPad S10, in black. I don't know if another used ThinkPad would have been a better buy , but I really need something small and light, and I'll just have to see how long it lasts. The screen is excellent and the keyboard is almost full size (about 80%). My typing is a little clumsy right now but I'm sure I'll adjust in no time. We bought a six-year-old dryer from a friend. It works great, and I feel a whole lot better about all the energy I'm not using. I stopped looking for new gloves , and resigned myself to wearing old ones that I don't like. Then, in the supermarket, out of the corner of my eye, I saw some cheap imitations of the ones I loved and lost. Only $9.00! I snapped them up, and am happy. I also made a note to myself to order the real thing from L.L. Bean before next winter, when there's still a sel...

I have two updates on the Gaza Freedom March, one from Sandra Ruch of the Canadian delegation to the Gaza Freedom March, and one from CODEPINK. After the updates, there is a call to action from the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War. We're asked to make a couple of phone calls. Let's do it. From Sandra Ruch: Later this morning, Thursday, December 31, beginning at 10 am, more than 50 Canadians will be participating in an illegal march from Cairo to Gaza to break the blockade of Gaza. The Canadian government has said they will not provide assistance should marchers face prosecution or arrest. The Canadians are part of the Gaza Freedom March brings over 1300 people from more than 43 countries to join Palestinians of Gaza in a non-violent mass march to the Israeli border. From CODEPINK: The Gaza Freedom March continues - in Cairo, we hope in Gaza, and around the world. Because of all your emails and the determination of the almost 1,400 people who came to Cairo to be a part of t...

Via this excellent post by Section 15 , I've learned that Andrew Coyne and I agree on something. Parliament - minus the Tories, of course - should meet anyway. I'd love to see all three Opposition parties refuse to prorogue. "Conservatives, you don't want to work? Then don't. We were elected to do a job and we're going to do it. We're meeting without you!" After all, they are the majority! Freals, it's true. I know you can't tell but they are! Coyne: As Canadian democracy spirals further down the drain: Prime Minister Stephen Harper will prorogue Parliament Wednesday for a two-month break. The House of Commons and the Senate will come back in March, after the Vancouver Olympics, for a Speech from the Throne and a budget. The move will have the effect of stalling all bills currently in Parliament, including crime bills that the government had said were being delayed by the opposition. A post-Olympic return would also shut down government com...

As you know, the international delegation known as the Gaza Freedom March has been stranded at the border with Egypt, unable to bring food, supplies and hope to the Palestinians caught in the Gaza siege. The Egyptian government, negotiating with the Marchers, said it would allow 100 of the 1,300 delegates over the border into Gaza. The Canadian delegation, along with delegations from France, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden and New York State, rejected the offer. "We flatly reject Egypt's offer of a token gesture. We refuse to whitewash the siege of Gaza. Our group will continue working to get all 1362 marchers into Gaza as one step towards the ultimate goal for the complete end of the siege and the liberation of Palestine," said Ziyaad Lunat a member of the march Coordinating Committee. Here's an update - and what you can do - from Sandra Ruch : Using the pretext of escalating tensions on the Gaza-Egypt border, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry informed us yesterday that ...

Once again, he runs and hides from the people. Parliament will resume on March 3. Democracy be damned. P.S. Least surprising headline of the year: Ignatieff Shelves Election Talk . Don't tell me how an election will give Harper his majority. He's had a de facto majority for years!

My first opportunity to travel to the West to tell the story of my suffering people came in 2002, when I was regional director of OPAWC. Soon after we had set up Hamoon Clinic and the orphanage, I was invited by women's rights groups to speak in Germany. I was only 24 years old at the time, so I was very honored by the invitation. . . . I remember clearly that some Germans in the audience cried when we described the conditions of life in Afghanistan. I also met a Russian woman at this conference who came up to us and said how ashamed she was that her country had caused so many problems in Afghanistan. It was very impressive to me. It was on this first trip abroad that I really began to realize the universal humanity that unites everyone who is working for a better world. These Westerners were human just as we Afghans are human. We are all flesh and bone, we all live and die, and we all have hopes and dreams for our families and friends. Westerners and Afghans both have women and yo...

The Mark is running a slightly edited version of a recent wmtc post : " Why I Can't Stand the Olympics ". Please click.

Yesterday I blogged about the "security theatre" being acted out in airports all over North America right now. In comments , I learned that same stage is presenting another tired old standard: union bashing. Raw Story: Republican senator Jim DeMint used the attempted attack on a airplane bound for Detroit as an excuse to voice opposition to unions. Absent any other television guests interested in countering Senator DeMint's assertions, Fox News provided him a national forum for a broad attack on labor. He warned, "The administration is intent on unionizing and submitting our airport security to union bosses' collective bargaining." The senator from South Carolina told Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace that unionization is a threat to airport security because collective bargaining prevents flexibility. "We have to out-think the terrorists and when we formed the airport security system, we realized we could not use collective bargaining and unionizatio...

In one of my courses last term, "Knowledge and Information in Society," one of the topics explored was surveillance and control. The professor, Andrew Clement, has amassed a huge body of research with practical, real-life applications. One lecture that made a big impression on me summarized his work on Ontario's plans for the so-called enhanced driver's license , an identity document permitting travel to and from the United States in lieu of a passport. Ontario planned and implemented the licenses without public input or oversight, and a group at the University of Toronto Faculty of Information tried to participate. After numerous Access to Information requests and other attempts were stalled or ignored, they held their own hearings. (This was part of a graduate student's PhD thesis.) My interpretation of their findings: the enhanced driver's license is a frightening intrusion into citizen privacy and offers no greater security or time-savings than any other d...

Catching up on my Pepys reading, I see this, from the entry dated 19 December 1666. Thence going away met Mr. Hingston the organist (my old acquaintance) in the Court, and I took him to the Dog Taverne and got him to set me a bass to my "It is decreed," [a song Pepys had composed] which I think will go well . . . Then to talk of the King's family. He says many of the musique are ready to starve, they being five years behindhand for their wages; nay, Evens, the famous man upon the Harp having not his equal in the world, did the other day die for mere want, and was fain to be buried at the almes of the parish, and carried to his grave in the dark at night without one linke, but that Mr. Hingston met it by chance, and did give 12d. to buy two or three links. He says all must come to ruin at this rate, and I believe him. A "link" or "linke" is torch used to light the way on dark streets; a "link boy" is a person paid to carry such a torch. Here...

I was waiting to post this until I got my first term grades, not realizing that wouldn't happen until the first week of January. So I'll post it now and fill in the grades later. After all, the grades are the least important part of this whole enterprise. I am now one-eighth of the way to being a Master of Information. Here's my first term report card. Courses completed: 2 of 16 Number of papers written: 5 Number of presentations made: 2 Orders of french fries consumed : 1 Friends and acquaintances made: several Chances of staying in touch with any of them (all full-time students): almost zero Interesting material learned: much more than I expected Boring material suffered through: plenty Grades by frequency (two grades still outstanding): A+ 1 A 0 A- 3 B+ 3 B 1 B- 0 FZ 0 Expected grades in both classes: B+ Actual grades for both classes: A-, and either A or A- I originally thought I'd take courses every summer, in order to finish the program sooner. But...

The Gaza Freedom March, an international delegation bringing aid and hope for peace and freedom to the people of Gaza, is still stranded at the Egyptian border, unable to cross into Gaza. One member, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor named Hedy Epstein, has begun a hunger strike in protest. Here are two updates from the Canadian contingent. First, from Dave Bleakney of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers: Thirteen hundred people are stranded in Cairo seeking to bring humanitarian aid and build people to people relationships with those in Palestine seeking peace, reconciliation and respect. The Canadian and other western governments appear complicit and accomplices in preventing civil society exchanges involving students, seniors, trade unionists, and women's organizations. Supporting and aiding the building of direct links outside the political structures of Hamas and the Israeli government seems an undesirable act by our governments and those that purport to represent us. The C...

Part One here. Part Two here. So I wrote, and I did activism, and I worked. By the mid-late 1990s, I had started doing document production in corporate law firms, which fit well with my writing. Doc-pro is not mind-numbingly boring, it requires some technical skills which I enjoy, but it uses no creative energy and leaves my brain and creative self free for what really matters. I focused on jockeying my way into increasingly better positions, where I would be paid more for fewer hours. (While I was a nanny, Allan had been waiting tables at a local cafe. When we left Brooklyn for Washington Heights - and I left my position as a nanny after four and a half years - I taught Allan word-processing and he started work as a legal secretary. Eventually he also moved into legal doc-pro work, and that is what we both still do today.) When I look back on this time of my life, I see myself as frenetically busy, always juggling a packed calendar of writing, work and activism, and within writing, ju...

This is the third holiday season I've wanted to post the same great video, but can't because of Canadian copyright restrictions. "Christmastime for the Jews" was one of Robert Smigel 's brilliant cartoons for SNL, featuring a perfect Phil Spector-style Darlene Love singing over the animation. We have it on a Smigel DVD which we watched yesterday - completely coincidentally to Christmas. US readers and Canadians with fake IP addresses can watch it here . Canadians without a workaround have to settle for audio here ; there's a still from the video here . However... searching for the video, we learned that TV Funhouse - the Comedy Central show , not the SNL shorts - is finally out on DVD! Yay! This is a must-buy for us. The short-lived, little-seen, late-night comedy was our secret obsession in the winter of 2000. It's a totally irreverent, hilarious cartoon spoof, in the style of those low-budget Hanna-Barbera cartoons from the 1970s and 80s. You might be ab...

News from my friend Mara Clarke, founder of the Abortion Support Network in the UK. Yesterday it was announced that three women, known as A, B, and C, have begun their challenge to Ireland's ban on abortion in the European Court of Human Rights. The three women travelled to Britain to have abortions and claim that the Irish anti-abortion laws caused health risk, trauma and humiliation. Although the case has garnered significant international attention, a decision is not expected for some time. In the meantime, women in Ireland are still forced to travel to obtain safe, legal abortions. These women are travelling not only from Ireland, the focus of this court case, but also from Northern Ireland, where, despite being part of the United Kingdom, abortion is illegal in almost all situations. Women need help. While all advocates of reproductive choice anticipate the outcome of the ABC case, the Abortion Support Network (ASN) is here to help these women – with housing for women who com...

Last spring, I attended a talk given by the International Socialists called "Recession, Resistance and Revolution"; I wrote a summary here and here . This talk was excellent historical and political background as I read this interview with Noam Chomsky on ZNet. Diane Krauthamer sat down with the famous leftist thinker in October. Here's an excerpt. The Second World War ended with a radicalization of the population in the United States and everywhere else, and called for all kinds of things like popular takeovers, government intervention, and worker takeovers of factories. Business propagated a tremendous propaganda offensive. The scale surprised me when I read the scholarship—it's enormous, and it's been very effective. There were two major targets: one is unions, the other is democracy. . . . . . . it's a tremendous victory for the opponents of democracy, and, of course, any privileged sector is going to hate democracy. You can see it in the healthcare deb...

Part One here. I wrote a young-adult novel, and then another. Allan moved to New York, and continued writing about music, as he had been doing in Vermont. Free music! Free tickets to shows! Interviews with bands we loved! We both wrote, and both edited each other's work, and learned more about writing and about working together. My first book was more like an exercise; I was learning how to write a book. The great success was having writen it at all, and completing it. It would have been a huge long shot if it had been published, and when it wasn't, it wasn't a big deal. My second book was - is - very good. A literary agent agreed to represent it, and I thought I was on my way. I was not. At least not in the way I envisioned. Part of the creative process - and part of being happy in our own lives - is figuring out how to define success. Is success making a lot of money? Is it acceptance within our field? Critical acclaim? Being able to quit our day-jobs? When I first quit m...

Here we are on December 24, and I haven't written the annual wmtc I Hate Christmas post! I haven't found the season too oppressive this year, mainly because I'm so happy to be on my winter break from school, and have had very little contact with the so-called holiday spirit. I did have to hear the dreaded seasonal muzak while doing some errands, but mostly I've been in my own lovely Christmas-free bubble. It helps that I don't turn on the TV. Back in the days before we could watch whatever we wanted whenever we wanted, my least favourite part of the Christmas season was the endless repetition of my least favourite movie in the world, "It's A Wonderful Life". My loathing for this movie is partly fed by my extreme dislike of Jimmy Stewart. I grew up watching old movies, and I've had a nearly visceral disgust for Stewart probably since age 8 or 9. He's been in some excellent films, but for me any movie is marred by his ridiculous voice and pitiful...

What could be more terrible than being persecuted or discriminated against for the basic, immutable facts of who you are or what you believe in? Not being allowed to vote, or get an education. Fearing your home will be burned down, or your children beaten, or being thrown in jail. Because you are female, or have dark skin, or were born into a Jewish family. Or a Muslim family. Or a Catholic family. Or are gay. Or believe in peace. To most of us it seems so obvious. It seems incredible, almost beyond belief, that in so many places in the world, people are still persecuted because of who they are. There is still discrimination here, of course, and there is still violence against women and LGBT people and Muslims. But state-sanctioned violence, institutional persecution - to me that is something far worse. If my boss discriminates against me because I am female, I can take action. I have recourse. It might be very difficult, it might turn my life upside down, but the laws are on my side....

Rodney Watson writes in the Toronto Star : I am from Kansas City, Kansas, and I joined the U.S. Army for financial reasons in 2004 after my steady job of seven years ended. I enlisted for a three-year contract with the intention of being a cook and not in a combat role. I wanted to support the troops in some way without being involved in any combat operations. A recruiter promised that I could do this. In 2005 I was deployed to Iraq just north of Mosul where I was told that my duties as a cook would be to supervise and ensure that the local nationals in the dining facility were preparing meals according to military standards. But instead of supervising in the dining facility, I was performing vehicle searches for explosives, contraband and weapons. I also operated a mobile X-ray machine that scanned vehicles and civilians for any possible explosives that could enter the base. I had to keep the peace within an area that held 100 to 200 Iraqi civilian men who would be waiting for securit...

In late 2003, Allan and I attended a peace rally and meeting at Judson Church , on Washington Square Park in New York City. The church was packed to the rafters, full of anger and energy and the power of determination. A man spoke whose son was in Iraq, and who opposed the war. I wish I knew who that man was. All I know is that he was with Military Families Speak Out . That night, I decided I would join the movement to support war resisters. I didn't know how or when I would do that, but I knew I had to be part of it. In Canada, I've learned how vital MFSO has been to the peace movement, and about the unstinting support they've given military members and their families - the real meaning of "support our troops". Now MFSO needs a different kind of support. When Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) began in November, 2002, co-founders Charley Richardson and Nancy Lessin’s son was being deployed to Iraq. They shared with other military families a deep fear and worry ...

Please watch this wonderful film, featuring my dear friend, war resister Kim Rivera, and someone else, who is no friend of Kim's. The whole thing is about 13 minutes. Please watch. Part I: Part II: Support Bill C-440

In the entire world, as far as we know, there are slightly more than 100 people serving sentences of life without the possibility of parole for crimes they committed as juveniles in which no one was killed. All are in the United States. Seventy-seven of them are in Florida. In November, the US Supreme Court heard appeals from two such convicted offenders. From the New York Times : Several factors in combination -- some legal, some historical, some cultural -- help account for the disproportionate number of juvenile lifers in Florida. The state's attorney general, Bill McCollum, explained the roots of the state's approach in the first paragraph of his brief in Mr. Graham's case. "By the 1990s, violent juvenile crime rates had reached unprecedented high levels throughout the nation," Mr. McCollum wrote. "Florida's problem was particularly dire, compromising the safety of residents, visitors and international tourists, and threatening the state's bedrock...

[redsock guest post] In the ever-growing list of ideologies shared by both Barack Obama and the Cheney administration - not to mention some of the most brutal dictators in history - we can add this : The Obama administration had asked the [U.S. Supreme] court ... [to] let stand an earlier opinion by the D.C. Circuit Court, which found that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act -– a statute that applies by its terms to all "persons" -– did not apply to detainees at Guantanamo, effectively ruling that the detainees are not persons at all for purposes of U.S. law. ... Channeling their predecessors in the George W. Bush administration, Obama Justice Department lawyers argued in this case that there is no constitutional right not to be tortured or otherwise abused in a U.S. prison abroad. ... The circuit court ruled that "torture is a foreseeable consequence of the military's detention of suspected enemy combatants." The United States Supreme Court agreed with Obama...

A U.S. Army general in northern Iraq has added pregnancy to the list of reasons a soldier under his command could be court-martialed. The new policy, outlined last month by Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo and released Friday by the Army, would apply to both female soldiers who become pregnant on the battlefield and the male soldiers who impregnate them. Civilians reporting to Cucolo also could face criminal prosecution under the new guidelines. Army spokesman George Wright said the service typically sends home from the battlefield soldiers who become pregnant. But it is not an Army-wide policy to punish them under the military's legal code, he said. However, division commanders like Cucolo have the authority to impose these type of restrictions to personnel operating under their command, Wright said. At the same time, women in the military face great restrictions in terminating pregnancy. The Hyde Amendment makes it impossible to use federal funds for abortion services, which includes mil...

Jailed for performing a song, forced to go AWOL to get help for PTSD, separated from an infant baby... is there anything the US military won't do its troops? I don't know if many of you get email updates from Courage To Resist . Courage is one of the principal organizations supporting military resisters in the US, and lately they've sent some really interesting information. Marc Hall, an Army Specialist who was stop-lossed, was put in jail for speaking out against the policy that involuntarily re-upped him. As hip-hop artist Marc Watercus, Hall has written an angry and explicit song about stop-loss ( listen here ). Military personnel are not supposed to forfeit their First Amendment rights - and certainly not while off-duty. Erick Jasinski was forced to go AWOL - to get treatment for his Iraq-related PTSD . "In late 2008 they stop-lossed me, and that pushed me over the edge," Jasinski told IPS, "They were going to send me back to Iraq the next month."...